Metallurgical process.



I. T. JONES.

METALLUHGICAL PROCESS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13. 1917- P fra Patented Deo. 17, 191.8.

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JOHN TYLER JONES, OE PITTSBURGH, rENNsYLvANrA,"aSSIeNOE To THOMAS J. HOWELLS, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Desc. il?, TENS,

Application tiled December v13, 1917. Serial No. 206,995.1.l I

To'aZZ whom t may concern: l

Be it known that I, JOHN TYLER JONES, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metallurgi- -cal Processes, of Which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in metallurgical processes, and. it' consists in the various steps hereinafter specified.

An object of my invention is to provide a process by means ,of which metals such as iron and manganese ma)7 be economically reduced from their ores to the metallic state.

A further object of my invention is to provide a process in which ores containing iron andimanganese may be treated economically,

and in Which the iron, after it has been reduced to the metallic state, may be easily separated from the manganese, and in which the manganese may subsequently be reduced to the metallicl state andl separated from the slag.

' A further object of my invention is to provide a processby means of which iron and manganese when mixed as in an ore, may be reduced to the metallic State, and in which the separation of the iron and the manga'- nese is accomplished by a`n -initial heat treatment which is of high enough temperature to bring the iron in the metallicstate, but which is not of sufcient temperature to metallize the manganese, so that the iron may be separated prior to the separation of the' manganese, by magnetic means or otherwise. i

A further object of my invention is vto provide a process for treatin ores conta-ining iron, manganese and -si1ca, Awhich re-K quires a relatively-small amount of coal or other carbonaceous material.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the Vnovel lfeatures of the invention Will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accomi panying drawing forming apart of thisap'- plication, in which, a section of a. furnace is shown, t h1s furnace -belng used 1n one' form of the process.

The particular ore'vvhich I have in mind in the practice of my process is that found on the Cuyuna range in Minnesota, but the.

process is equally applicablev to ores found in other regions and ofv dilerent compositions.

rThe Cuyuna ore contains the oxids of iron, manganese and silicon in varying proportions, together With Small quantities of other elements Whose presence, however, does not interfere with the successful carryingout of the process. One part of bituminous coa'l is nely divided by means ofa crusher or any other suitable device, to a ineness ranging from 20 to -100 mesh. Five parts of ore is also crushed to a corresponding ineness and the crushed ore and coal is then intimately mixed.

The mixture is placed ina furnace, -such as a Siemens regenerative coking oven, and is heated substantially out of the presence of air, to a temperature of substantially 2000o Fahrenheit or to such a temperature as is sufficient 'to metallize the iron. Care should be taken not to greatly exceed this temperature, because if the temperature aphand, it is necessary' ofcourse, to have a- -temperature which metallize substantially all the iron and this, asstated, is approximately 2000 Fahrenheit.

The time Of'this heat treatment fvanes in accordance with the bulk of material to be treated. For some charges twenty-four hours is sulicient, for others forty-eight-,- and for others seventy-two, these times con. forming tothe practiceiof coking coaln I may state that When the mixture is heated in a Crucible, -the coking action may be accomplished in a short time, as for instance, in a few *minutes At the end of the coking period, a mixture Wchich is spongy in its nature and sermplastic when red-hot, is produced, and this.

is drawn out in asimilar manner as coke is drawn" from the oven, and cooled by pouring over the mass cold Water.

The cooled .mass is then crushed between readily separated from the coked product. 'n

The pulverized product vvhich remains when the .iron is separated, 1s a silicate of manganese mixed With particles of carbon. This pulverized mixture is further mixed with lime and put into a furnace adapted to melt'the manganese. vThe articular type of furnace forms no part of t e present invention. Any suitable furnace such as an elec! tric furnace which Will raise the temperature to substantially that required to melt the manganese might be used. ln case there should be an excess of manganese oxid, then an additional amount of carbon in the form of coal may be added with the lime.

The melted manganese may be run od from the slag which Vconsists largely of silicate of lime.

A@modified form of the process consists in adding lime to the mixture of ore and coal before the first heat treatment. To this end, l may take Say, tWenty (20) lparts of ore, four (1l) parts of coal, and five (5), parte of lime, by Weight, the ore and the coal being pulverized as before stated. The mixture is heated in an oven to substantially 2000f Fahrenheit, substantially out of the presence of air, and the product is a spongy mass con- Sisting of metallic iron in globules, manganese silicate, and silicate of lime, together with particles of coke. This mass is cooled in the manner already described and then is crushed and passed through' a magnetic separator. The iron is separated out from the mass and the residue consisting of man-V ganese silicate .and silicate of lime, and coke, is passed over a separating table such as a Wiliiey table, which separates the manganese from the remaining portion. The separated manganese is then put into an electric furnace and is melted down into the pig.

A third form of the process consists in mixing crushed ore and coal in equal parts by Weight, heating the same in a coking Y loven substantially out of the presence of air, and forming a coke-like product consisting 0f iron in the metallic state but not in the globular state. This iron is in a very inely divided form and is'sepa'rated by particles of coke. The temperature at which the coking process is carried out is, as in the other forms of the process, substantially 2000", or that temperature which is suiiicient to metallize the iron but not the man-4 ganese. The product is cooled in the manner already described, and is then put into heated to 2000iD or admitted duringthe thereabout, air being the drawing l have heating process. In

Vshown one form of furnace that might be used. lt consists of a vertical chamber l open at its top and providedwith air openings 2 toward the bottom. Below the air openings are openings 3. The chamber 1 rests on a base 4 which is provided with a trough 5 filled with Water 6. rlheI coked 'mass-7 is fed in at the top of the furnace and the material is continually raked from Laaaeaa the bottom of the furnace through the openings 3 finto the trough 5. As the charge descends, additional material is fed in at the top, so that the operation is continuous. practice it takes about four hours for the charge to pass through the furnace and out into the trough. Duringth, heatin process, the iron which was in a finely divided metallic form, is now broughtinto the nodular form. By keeping the*4 temperature down, that isto say, at point Where the iron Will be melted but the manganese will not, very little manganese Will be found mixed `with the iron. llhe latter may be separated magnetically. The residue containing the manganese, coke and the silica, is heated at a temperature which Will meltthe manganese, and the latter can be then collected in pig. v

Each of these forms of the process has cer:

'tain generic features. In the first place, the

material to be operated on is substantially the same. The best results are obtained by linely dividing the ore and the coal in each. instance. 'ln each instance, the charge is irst coked at a comparatively low tempera- InV ture', that is to say, ata temperature vwhich is suiiicient to metallize the iron but not the other metals, and finally, the iron .is septarated prior to the separation of the manga-- nese, after which the manganese is melted.

I have spoken of the coal and ore as being nely divided. that the process is most successfully carried out by finely dividing these materials, but it may be carried out. With the materials in lump form, and l therefore consider as falling Within the scope of this specification any process which makes use of steps in Which the materials are treated in accordance With the foregoing description While in lump form. y y

It will also be noted that l have specilied hereafter in the claims hydrocarbon bearing material as a reducing agent. Actual practice shows that the reduction may be accomplished With-,pure coke. ln lieu of a better generic term it Will be understood that the term hydrocarbon bearingmaterial includes coke.

l claim;

l. T he herein described metallurgical procterial and to reduce the iron to the metallic stata-,separating out the metallic iron, and

subsequently reducingthe maganese to the metallic state. I

2. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in mixing` ai finely divided ore containing iron and manganese with a A nely divided carbonaceoiis material, heatt will be understood I ing the mixture substantially out `'of the presence of air to coke the carbonaceous material and to reduce the iron to the metallic state, separating out the metallic iron magnetically, and subsequently reducing the manganese to the metallic state.

3. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in mixing finely divided ore containing iron and manganese with finely divided coal, coking the mixture at a temperature sufficient to reduce the iron to the metallic state but below a temperature sufficient to reduce the manganese to a metallic state, separating the iron magnetically from the coked mixture, and subsequently heating-the residue at an increased tempera ture to bring the manganese t0 the metallic state.

4. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in pulverizing an ore containing iron and manganese to substantially twenty to one hundred mesh, pulveriZingA' coal to the same ineness, mixing the pul! verized coal with the pulver-ized ore, heating the mixture substantially out of the presence of air to a temperature of substantially 20000 to coke the coal and to bring the iron intothe metallic state, separating the iron from the coked product, and subsequently heating the residue at an increased temperature to bring the manganese' into the metallic state.

5. Theherein described metallurgical process which consists in pulverizing an ore containing iron and manganese to substantially twenty to one hundred mesh, pulverizing coal to the same ineness, mixing the 'pulver-v ized coal Withthe pulverized ore, heating the mixture substantially out of the presence of air to a temperature of substantially 2000o to coke the coal and to bring the iron into the metallic state, separating the iron from lthe coked product, and subsequently heating the residue to substantially 3000o Fahrenheit, in the presence of air to bring the manganese into the metallic state.

6. The herein described metallurgical process Which consists in heating a finely divided ore containing iron and manganese with finely divided -coal substantially out of the presence of air at a temperature which.

Will coke the coal and Will bring the iron to the metallic state, and which Will also substantially prevent the bringing of the manganese into the metallic state, adding lime manganese to to the residue, heating the residue in the presence of air'to a temperature suiicient to nelt the manganese and to form silicate of ime.

7. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in pulverizing an ore containing iron, -manganese and silica, mixing the pulverif/.ed ore with pulverized coali, heatingthe mixture substantially out of the presence of air at a temperature'suicient to coke the coal and to bring the iron into the metallic state, but whichv Will not melt the manganese, crushing the coked mixture, separating out the iron magnetically, adding lime to the crushed residue, heating the residue at a temperature sufficient to melt the manganese and to form silicate of lime.

8. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in mixing pulverized ore containing iron, manganese, and silica, with pulverized coal in the proportions of one part of coal to yive parts of ore, heating the mixture substantially out of the presence of air at a temperature' sufficient to melt the iron and to coke the coal but not suiicient to meltthe manganese, cooling and crushing the co'ked product, separating out the iron magnetically, adding lime to the crushed residue, heating the crushed residue with the admixture of' lime in the presence of air to a temperature suiiicient to bring the manganese into the molten state and to form silicate of lime, and separating the metal from the silicate.

9. The herein described metallurgical process which consists in mixing nely divided ore containing iron and manganese With iinely divided coal, coking the mixture at a temperature sufficient to reduce the iron to the metallic state but below a temperature sufficient to reduce the manganese to a metallic state, separating the iron from the cokedi mixture, andi subsequently heating the residue at an increased temperature to bring the manganese to the metallic state.

10. The herein described, metallurgical process which consists in mixing ore con taining iron and manganese With a carbona ceous material, heating the mixture sub stantially out of the presence of air to coke the carbonaceous material and to reduce thel iron to the metallic state, separating out the metallic iron and subsequently reducing the the metallic state.

` JOHN TYLER JONES. 

